Husbands Wanted

"The fame of the bachelor citizens
of Scotts Bluff County has spread abroad to such an extent,"
said the Gering Courier of December 18, 1908, "that
we have received this week even from far-off Kentucky two applications
for husbands.

"The young ladies who address us are factory girls in the
thriving city of Henderson, and describe themselves very modestly,
but we read between the lines of their epistles that they are
fond and loving hearts that pine for all the comforts of a home
in the breezy west, and while they are a little wee bit specific
in their desires in the way of hubbies, we still believe this
valley can furnish the goods. One wants her affinity to be not
over 5 feet 10, with auburn or brown hair and dark eyes, and
of course handsome and wealthy.

"The other wants a dark-haired gentleman,
but would prefer blue eyes, and insists that he have an amiable
disposition, in consideration of which she omits the requirement
of wealth, so we infer some our just well-to-do boys will fill
the bill. She is also obliging enough to describe herself as
a girl of 5 feet 7 inches, dark gray eyes, dark red hair, almost
brown, and 150 pounds avoirdupois.

"Would that we were young again! The
names of our friends Ernest Moon and J. H. Casselman of Scottsbluff
came first into our minds, quickly followed by those of Frank
Hall and Army Simonian of this city, but we have had some difficulty
in sorting them out, and will simply offer to show these letters
to any who are seriously disposed. These, and a dozen others
who are highly worthy, are available subjects, while [the 1908]
leap year still holds on [when custom allows women rather than
men to propose marriage], and we solicit interviews.

"Both the young ladies are willing
to submit photographs and recommendations, and give their names,
which we are prepared to furnish to the right parties, but trust
no one will trifle with their affections. We feel assured that
they are good girls who are simply lost in a wilderness of other
girls in a manless community, and our sympathies and assistance
are on tap for them."